‘Tis the week of the season when one might wonder what day it is. Well relax, settle back, and enjoy what these authors share. ‘Tis the season…

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Trish’s Favorite Christmas Gift

My favorite Christmas gift came from my sister Meg. It was nine or ten years ago. We were both adults, entering those transitional years when husbands and children were being added to holiday celebrations. Part of me (as the sister not bringing new members into our family) longed to cling to the old days, when our family was more simple to outline and understand.

Meg handed me her gift with a certain look in her eye that I knew meant “pay attention.” It was a big rectangle, a frame of some sort. I ripped the paper off with great enthusiasm (as is our family tradition) to reveal a collage: pictures of she and I together at every age: toddlers having a picnic on our front steps, me giving her a piggy back ride, the two of us smiling and grown-up before her high school prom. And in the middle square, toward the bottom, Meg had copied this quote: “Chance made us sisters; Love made us friends.”

I love all Christmas music! The ones I find myself singing all the time are “The Christmas Waltz” and “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.” And my favorite Christmas movie is “Elf.” I have to watch it every year…and I always tear up at the end.Katie Alender (Bad Girls Don’t Die YA)

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Allison Loves This Movie

My favorite holiday movie, and I don’t know if this is considered a classic or not, but it’s still my favorite, is Love, Actually. I love every single thing about this movie and watch it at least once per holiday season. It’s so uplifting yet realistic in a melancholy sort of way – these regular people going about their lives and trying to find a way to infuse those lives with more joy – that is just so touching. And that end scene with Hugh Grant and his assistant? Perfect in every way.Allison Winn Scotch (The Department of Lost and Found, Time of My Life and The One That I Want coming June 1, 2010)

Allison, Love, Actually is also one of my all time favorite movies and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve played the sound track. And yes, I’d put it in the holiday movie genre…..so romantic, and perfect for a night in before the fire.